Musculoskeletal pain refers to pain arising from the muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones. Musculoskeletal pain is by far the most common type of pain experienced by patients, especially in the workplace. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 1992, one million of the 2.3 million nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses which resulted in days away from work involved musculoskeletal disorders. Of the one million injuries and illnesses, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 280,000 involved cumulative trauma disorders of the upper extremities, such as wrists, shoulders or elbows. Such injuries make up the fastest growing, most widespread occupational hazard in the United States today. In fact, the problem has grown so acute that OSHA has proposed new sweeping occupational safety standards that would reach into virtually every workplace.
Notwithstanding the enormous prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, the scientific study of muscle pain, per se, and musculoskeletal dysfunction, in general, has lagged far behind advances in other areas of medicine. One reason for this lag is that there is a lack of a clear understanding of the basic pathophysiology of pain arising from muscles. Another reason is the lack of scientific technology to obtain and document objective patient data. As a result, many or most patients who experience musculoskeletal pain do not have a specific diagnosis.
Janet Travell, M.D. has conducted extensive research on myofascial trigger points. Her research has provided much needed perspective on the underlying cause of muscle pain and musculoskeletal dysfunction, including the clinical pain syndromes arising from myofascial trigger points in each muscle of the body. Her research emphasized a perspective of primarily biomechanical stressors which produce such trigger points.
Despite the extensive research by Dr. Travell, the perspective of the research failed to appreciate and explore the importance of psychophysiologic factors in musculoskeletal pain. Additionally, the research was entirely clinical, without objective documentation.
Accordingly, there is still a need for methods which can diagnose muscular dysfunction in patients with musculoskeletal pain and which can diagnose which proportion of pain is from biomechanical dysfunction and which proportion is from psychophysiologic dysfunction. The present invention fills these needs by providing a system for collecting muscle activity samples while a patient undergoing selected protocols, creating mathematical indices from the samples and comparing the indices to normative values.